My dad used to tell me that some people just go through life with a pinched nerve, and there is nothing you can do about it—they are just going to be pissed off no matter what you do.
Amen to that!
I didn’t realize that by the time I was in my 50s, those people would be almost exclusively Democrats, Socialists, Environmental Activists, Social Justice Warriors, DEI advocates, radical professors, and the mindless robots they are turning out from Kindergarten to Ph.D.
How hard does somebody have to focus on finding something to be offended by every single day? Think about the kind of discipline it takes to get out of bed and begin scouring the earth to ensure you—or somebody else—can claim the title of victim for the day.
I have had some hard days and big setbacks, but I don’t blame them on other people because of their politics, race, background, or sexual orientation. Usually, I take the loss with the attitude of ‘Well, I had better work harder and correct whatever it was I did wrong.’
That has been true in relationships and in my career—as I have had a couple along the way.
It’s also been true in companies I have owned and projects I have spearheaded.
I had a TV series die on me ten years ago that I thought was going to be great—you know why? I hired the wrong people, I placed my trust in the wrong people, and there isn’t anyone to blame for that except me.
The same is true in relationships. I have been divorced, but in fairness, that is not on my shoulders, nor is it on my heart. I know what happened there—and so does everyone in my circle. So, on that count, I am in good understanding of what went wrong—and just because something fails it doesn’t mean you just take the hit for it. Sometimes other people are to blame when things blow up.
But—and this is a very big but—though I may have felt like it on occasion, I am not a victim.
In business, I figured out how to fight back and rebuild companies. I didn’t even launch my radio and television career until ten years ago—and we are doing great.
In my personal life, well, I found Ivey. More accurately, she found me—and we have been a force of nature ever since. I say that humbly because I know that without her incredible strength, ability, and, above all, bulletproof faith, none of the things we are accomplishing would be possible.
Ivey came through hell to find her way here—more than just about anyone I know. I will leave that one to her because it’s not my story to tell—but someday, she will share her journey from the pits of literal hell to being the brains and the beauty behind the whole Gruber world in my orbit.
I wake up every day, and even on the days I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I never feel sorry for myself or ever think I’m a victim. For God’s sake, I’m an American and damned proud too.
I have known since I was about seven years old that God gave me the greatest blessing of all—to be born free and in this country.
It’s absolutely foreign to me when I see the left’s victim class trash-talking America at every turn—attacking our founders, ripping down statues, demeaning who we are as a people, and lying about it every step of the way.
This country did not begin in 1619, nor did we bring slavery here. No, this country stood up and ended slavery by sacrificing more than 600,000 of our own people—and we could have done so much earlier.
If you didn’t know, the Constitution allowed for the elimination of slavery in 1808, but the Democrats in the South refused to give in. So for five and a half more decades, the scourge of slavery scarred our nation.
But we inherited the practice from the British, Spanish, and French. Americans ended slavery, and, in time, we knocked down the Jim Crow laws that were put in place of bondage. Again, these were the rules put in place by Democrats to keep black people in poverty and without political power.
Come to think of it—that’s what the Democrats are still doing.
Just look at America’s large cities, that a disproportionate number of black and Hispanic people call home—and check that against the poverty rates of the uppity white liberals who claim to care about those things.
In Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco, the poverty and crime rates are skyrocketing like never before. You can find the same thing in almost every Democrat-led city—which is just about all of them. Chicago, Baltimore, and Philly come to mind, along with Washington, DC, and New York City. Democrat machines run all these, and they are full of crime, poverty, and drug and alcohol abuse because poverty goes hand in hand with addiction—that is a mathematical certainty.
Poverty rates—no matter your skin color—lead to poor health, which is most often linked to drug and alcohol use and abuse.
Yet, every day in this country, there are millions who have been conditioned to wake up and start complaining. They aren’t doing a damn thing to change a damn thing—but they are running their mouths and calling people racist, misogynist, and anything else they can think of to smear those with differing political ideas.
When I look at America, I don’t see victims—unless you mean victims of left-wing Democrat Socialist politics and big government—in that way, they have been victimized.
When I look at America, I see opportunities. I see people that can achieve great things no matter where they started—and that has always been the magic of this country. I learned this from great American leaders in the past.
At his first inaugural, Ronald Reagan touched on this sentiment as he addressed the economic crisis of his day with these famous words:
“We, as Americans, have the capacity now as in the past to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom. In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.”
If you are willing to work, you can overcome all kinds of obstacles. Working hard and telling the truth are pretty good places to start. Of course, putting my faith in God doesn’t hurt either—although I could be better at that most days, but the control freak in me makes that pretty hard.
As for the people that go through life with a pinched nerve, like my dad used to say, well, they should take a moment, take a deep breath, and maybe call a therapist. Based on what I’ve seen, a lot of them could use an intervention.
What is really baffling, however, is that despite the self-inflicted victim class’s inability to run their own lives, they believe they are better equipped to run ours.
But I still think there is hope, and they would benefit from hearing some words of wisdom from those that went before us, who understand the true greatness of America.
They would also be well served by walking in Arlington National Cemetery, looking at the beaches of Normandy, reading about the fields of Gettysburg, and realizing that this great nation didn’t get here by accident. It took great sacrifice from millions before us and will again require great sacrifice to carry us into the future as we face our biggest challenges like an ever more aggressive Chinese Communist Party.
It will mean tackling the border crisis, returning America to energy independence, and telling the truth about our incredibly dangerous and out-of-control spending—but I have faith in the people here.
I have faith in you to do the right thing, to take this nation back from the victims and put it squarely in the hands of those that have and will put America First.
Citizenship means something. It has to me since I was a child, and it still does to hundreds of millions of us born here and those who immigrated.
It is time to stand up for America again. That is the way it is, and if you have a pinched nerve making you angry every day, well, for God’s sake, do something about it. Stop complaining, and please stop blaming your failures on America and your fellow Americans because if all you do is blame others and tear down this great nation—that, my friend, is on you!